I was never a fan of Amazon's skitzophrenic pricing for the Kindle version of books, but I think Macmillan is utterly retarded for thinking that consumers will be be fine paying more for books, and that people will understand the difference between a hardcover and paperback price – of an electronic book.
Amazon was taking a loss on every $9.99 book they sold, because they wanted to further the ebook platform and not confuse people with variable pricing. Amazon is thinking long-term, whereas Macmillian is thinking like a 167-year old company that's run by people who are confused by and scared of the Internet.
If there is any doubt left about who has the reader's best interests in mind, try comparing pricing for a random book from Macmillan's Top Sellers page.
Eight Days to Live at Amazon
Eight Days to Live at Macmillan
Amazon was completely wrong, and obviously disregarded the effort that publishers like Macmillan put into producing high-quality ebooks. It's apparent that the publishers truly are looking out for consumers, and being truthful about the high costs of producing quality electronic copies of books.
Blood Ties - Hardcover
Blood Ties - ebook
The Butcher's Boy - Hardcover
The Butcher's Boy - ebook
The Fellowship of the Ring - Hardcover
The Fellowship of the Ring - ebook
The Long Fall - Hardcover
The Long Fall - ebook
I just said to Tracy "I'm going to read my book" and picked up my Kindle.
I don't think I'd ever say that about an iPad – even if the reading experience was superior – because an iPad will always be a computer first; everything else is secondary. The Kindle was designed to replace books, not let you read books, watch movies, listen to music, browse the web and play games.
If you're building a single-purpose device there shouldn't be any compromises with the design, and the overall experience while using it for its sole task should always be more enjoyable than with a multipurpose competitor.
I don't want my Kindle to do more, I just want it to be better at what it already does.
Publishers like to whine about how there are costs associated with producing an electronic edition that can't be ignored, and claim the paper only costs a couple bucks. That may be true, but there also aren't trucks driving around cases of e-books to stores. There aren't lost or damaged copies or (as much) theft. There is a relatively small amount of time to format and review the digital edition and then the rest of the distribution costs are borne by the distributor – Amazon, Sony, Mobipocket, etc.
When the Kindle launched books were priced aggressively – about $9.99 for a digital edition. Since then prices have crept steadily upward, even as the number of customers and devices has increased. If economies of scale aren't coming into play, presumably the publishers are putting pressure on Amazon since I don't see them making a boneheaded move like this.
Pricing
First the hardcover – $15.37. Not bad, about what it'll run you at Costco or Barnes and Noble with a membership discount.
And then for some reason there are two Kindle versions available. One that you can pre-order, and one you can buy now.
If you want to buy the book now it will cost you $22.36 – $6.99 more than the hardcover version.
If you pre-order the Kindle edition it will only cost you $15.37… the same price as the hardcover edition.
Suggestions
- Don't sell the digital version of a book for the same price as the print edition.
- Don't compare the digital price to the print price – that's not why people are buying a digital copy.
- Don't ever sell a digital copy for more than the print price.
- Release the e-book on the same day as the print book.
- Try not to have multiple erroneous listings for the same item :)
